| Nebraska Lemon Law Firms, the Nebraska lemon law code, and information
Nebraska Lemon Law Firms:
This is a list of law firms that are registered as specializing in Nebraska lemon law cases.
| Ogborn, Summerlin & Ogborn, L.L.C. |
210 Windsor Place 330 South 10th Street Lincoln, NE 68508 68508 |
48.51 miles |
| (402) 434-8044 |
www.osobizconflicts.com |
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| Wandro, Baer & Casper, P.C. |
Suite B 2501 Grand Avenue Des Moines, IA 50312 50312 |
134.03 miles |
| (515) 281-1475 |
www.iowa-malpractice-lawyer.com |
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| Belin, Lamson, McCormick, Zumbach & Flynn, P.C. |
The Financial Center 666 Walnut Street Suite 2000 Des Moines, IA 50309 50309 |
136.45 miles |
| (515) 243-7100 |
www.belinlaw.com |
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| Pasley and Singer Law Firm, L.L.P. |
PO Box 664 323 6th St Ames, IA 50010-6105 50010 |
141.93 miles |
| (515) 232-4732 |
singerlaw.lawoffice.com |
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| Weltmer Law Office |
220 N Commercial Mankato, KS 66956-0303 66956 |
153.46 miles |
| (785) 378-3172 |
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| Moore, McKibben, Goodman, Lorenz & Ellefson, LLP |
302 Masonic Temple Bldg. P.O. Box 618 Marshalltown, IA 50158-0618 50158 |
178.27 miles |
| (641) 752-4271 |
www.marshalltownlaw.com |
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| Coulson Law Office P.C. |
204 East Kansas Suite A Liberty, MO 64068 64068 |
178.30 miles |
| (816) 781-0299 |
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| Lawson Law Office, LLC |
5330 Gleason Rd. Shawnee, KS 66226 66226 |
181.57 miles |
| (913) 441-9797 |
www.lawsonlawllc.com |
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| Stephen Bradley Small |
606 West 39th St Kansas City, MO 64141-2910 64141 |
184.60 miles |
| (816) 531-6789 |
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| Law Offices of Mark D. Hagen |
6405 Metcalf Avenue Suite 202 Overland Park, KS 66202 66202 |
186.27 miles |
| (913) 236-9696 |
www.hagenlawoffices.com |
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Nebraska Revised Statutes, 60.2701 to 60.2709
60-2701 Terms, defined.
As used in sections 60-2701 to 60-2709, unless the context otherwise requires:
(1) Consumer shall mean the purchaser, other than for purposes of resale, of a motor vehicle normally used for personal, family, household, or business purposes, any person to whom such motor vehicle is transferred for the same purposes during the duration of an express warranty applicable to such motor vehicle, and any other person entitled by the terms of such warranty to enforce the obligations of the warranty;
(2) Motor vehicle shall mean a new motor vehicle as defined in section 60-1401.02 which is sold in this state, excluding self-propelled mobile homes as defined in section 60-301; and
(3) Manufacturer's express warranty shall mean the written warranty, so labeled, of the manufacturer of a new motor vehicle.
60-2702 Motor vehicle not conforming to express warranties.
If a motor vehicle does not conform to all applicable express warranties, and the consumer reports the nonconformity to the manufacturer, its agent, or its authorized dealer during the term of such express warranties or during the period of one year following the date of original delivery of the motor vehicle to a consumer, whichever is the earlier date, the manufacturer, its agent, or its authorized dealer shall make such repairs as are necessary to conform the vehicle to such express warranties, notwithstanding the fact that such repairs are made after the expiration of such term or such one-year period.
60-2703 Manufacturer's duty to replace vehicle or refund price.
If the manufacturer, its agents, or authorized dealers are unable to conform the motor vehicle to any applicable express warranty by repairing or correcting any defect or condition which substantially impairs the use and market value of the motor vehicle to the consumer after a reasonable number of attempts, the manufacturer shall replace the motor vehicle with a comparable motor vehicle or accept return of the vehicle from the consumer and refund to the consumer the full purchase price including all sales taxes, license fees, and registration fees and any similar governmental charges, less a reasonable allowance for the consumer's use of the vehicle. Refunds shall be made to the consumer and lien holder, if any, as their interests may appear. A reasonable allowance for use shall be that amount directly attributable to use by the consumer and any previous owner prior to his or her first report of the nonconformity to the manufacturer, agent, or dealer and during any subsequent period when the vehicle is not out of service by reason of repair. It shall be an affirmative defense to any claim under sections 60-2701 to 60-2709
(1) that an alleged nonconformity does not substantially impair such use and market value or
(2) that a nonconformity is the result of abuse, neglect, or unauthorized modifications or alterations of a motor vehicle by a consumer.
60-2704 Attempts to conform motor vehicle to warranties.
It shall be presumed that a reasonable number of attempts have been undertaken to conform a motor vehicle to the applicable express warranties, if
(1) the same nonconformity has been subject to repair four or more times by the manufacturer, its agents, or authorized dealers within the express warranty term or during the period of one year following the date of original delivery of the motor vehicle to a consumer, whichever is the earlier date, but such nonconformity continues to exist or
(2) the vehicle is out of service by reason of repair for a cumulative total of forty or more days during such term or during such period, whichever is the earlier date. The term of an express warranty, such one-year period, and such forty-day period shall be extended by any period of time during which repair services are not available to the consumer because of a war, invasion, or strike, or fire, flood, or other natural disaster. In no event shall the presumption provided in this section apply against a manufacturer unless the manufacturer has received prior written direct notification by certified mail from or on behalf of the consumer and an opportunity to cure the defect alleged.
60-2705 Dispute settlement procedure.
The Director of Motor Vehicles shall adopt standards for an informal dispute settlement procedure which substantially comply with the provisions of 16 C.F.R. part 703, in existence as of February 22, 1983. If a manufacturer has established or participates in a dispute settlement procedure certified by the Director of Motor Vehicles within the guidelines of such standards, the provisions of section 60-2703 concerning refunds or replacement shall not apply to any consumer who has not first resorted to such a procedure.
60-2706 Statute of limitations.
Any action brought under sections 60-2701 to 60-2709 shall be commenced within (1) one year following the expiration of the express warranty term or (2) two years following the date of original delivery of the motor vehicle to a consumer, whichever is the earlier date.
60-2707 Attorney's fees; when allowed.
In any action brought under sections 60-2701 to 60-2709 the court shall award reasonable attorney's fees to the prevailing party if the prevailing party is the consumer.
60-2708 Sections, how construed.
Nothing in sections 60-2701 to 60-2709 shall in any way limit the rights or remedies which are otherwise available to a consumer under any other law.
60-2709 Applicability of sections.
Sections 60-2701 to 60-2709 shall apply to motor vehicles beginning with the manufacturer's 1984 model year.
In essence, the Lemon Laws specify that if you purchase (and in several states, lease) a new or used vehicle or other vehicle with a warranty that is defective, and the original equipment manufacturer can't correct it despite recurring attempts (in a set time limit that varies from state to state), or if the vehicle is not usable for a stipulated time (usually 30 days) due to its flaws, you are entitled to a wide number of damage settlements, including:
1. Money damages
2. A repayment of the cost
3. A brand new car
Furthermore, almost all of the Lemon Laws (as well as the Federal Warranty Law) feature a fee transferring element which states that if you win your suit, the original maker or car dealership which sold you your lemon is forced to pay for laywers' bills.
Lemon Law Statutes
State-specific Lemon Law Regulations
Each of the 50 states has a different Lemon Law statute. Even though the verbiage of each state's statute are distinct, the average state Lemon Law statute affords remedy for buyers with a unsound car purchased with a warranty if:
1. The car dealership or original maker just can not properly remedy a specific defect in the item after a fair number of repair tries (typically at least three);
2. The motor vehicle can't be driven for at least 30 days due to faults in the motor vehicle; or
3. The dealership or original maker can't fix a gremlin that is a severe safety risk.
Most of the time, a faulty motor vehicle is a motor vehicle with a problem or affliction that frequently cripples its function, economic value, or safety to the consumer and does not maintain the standard of the written warranty. In most instances, the time period in which the Lemon Laws apply are relatively short; the troubles and resulting repair efforts (or out-of-service period) generally will occur during the first two-years or 24,000 miles in which the purchaser owns the motor vehicle. However, a number of states have even shorter time periods. Additionally, most states have notification and trigger prerequisites, such as requiring the consumer to send registered mail notice to the original maker of the flaws and establishing the car dealership a chance to repair the car. Moreover, numbers of states demand that Lemon Law lawsuits be solved through an arbitration procedure.
Generally, state Lemon Law regulation codes also are applicable to leased vehicles and preowned automobiles bought whilst under the producers original warranty. A good number of state Lemon Laws also are applicable to vehicles other than passenger cars. depending on the buyer's home state, or the state in which the consumer purchased the automobile, Lemon Laws may be applicable to:
-RV's
-Motorcycles
-Pleasure Craft
-Other consumer goods (like computers)
There are a number of significant solutions available under the Lemon Laws. In most instances, if the manufacturing business just can't fix the automobile, the consumer can either call for the manufacturing business to replace the motor vehicle, or make the manufacturing business to reposess the motor vehicle and payback the original price paid together with incidental costs, like all bills, towing charges, repair charges, alternative travel costs and other costs incurred by the consumer as a result of the defects in the motor vehicle. Another important relief available under most Lemon Laws is attorneys' expenses. In virtually all states, if you win in a Lemon Law suit, you will not have to pay any laywers' expenses-the motor vehicle original maker that sold you your lemon is required to pay legal expenses.
The defendant motor vehicle original producer can assert many defenses to a Lemon Law claim. The conventional statute provides that the manufacturing business is not guilty if it can establish that the troubles in dispute came about because of maltreatment, forget about, or the tampering or alteration of a automobile by a party other than the original equipment manufacturer, its agent, or an authorized repair facility. Put differently, if the consumer abuses his or her own automobile, or the shortcomings were caused by tampering or adjustments carried out by an unauthorized person, the original equipment manufacturer could not be liable.
Federal Lemon Law Statutes
The Magnuson Moss Act
The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act is the federal law that controls consumer merchandise warranties. Ratified by Congress in 1975, the Magnuson Moss Act requires manufacturers and dealers of consumer goods to provide consumers with detailed info about warranty coverage benefits. Also, it affects both the rights of consumers and the responsibilities of warrantors under manufacturer warranties.
Even though the Magnuson Moss Act does not demand an automobile original maker to supply consumers with a warranty, if a warranty is supplied, the Magnuson Moss Act offers several protections for the consumer. The Magnuson Moss Act makes it easier for consumers to sue for not honoring the warranty by making breach of warranty a violation of federal law, and by allowing for public consumers to recoup legal costs and fair laywers' expenses.
The Magnuson Moss Act is frequently useful in a lemon suit in which, for some reason, a state Lemon Law claim is not available or otherwise disadvantageous. For example, contrary to the rather short period of time offered to public consumers inside most Lemon Laws, you can bring a claim for breach of warranty after the warranty period has expired as long as the defects happened during the warranty period. Also, although a few Lemon Laws limit their coverage to a small list of cars, the Magnuson Moss Act applies to virtually all consumer goods. The Magnuson Moss Act could also apply if you bought or leased a preowned automobile without a manufacturing business warranty, or if the automobile is covered by a third party agreement or other variant of extended warranty.
The Uniform Commercial Code
The Uniform Commercial Code (referred to as "UCC") has been ratified in all 50 U.S. States. It is the principal authority of law regulating warranties on consumer goods, including vehicles and other items. The UCC provides an alternative legal avenue for public consumers with lemon troubles.
UCC code states that the consumer of a good is entitled to return merchandise that break in any feature to the contract. Essentially, if your new item does not function as established by the manufacturer (your manufacturer warranty is part of your contract), you can file a claim citing the UCC in addition to any additional claims you may have.
The time for returning a car with the UCC is not unlimited. If you find a gremlin in your motor vehicle inside a sensible inspection period, you may return the motor vehicle. Unfortunately, new motor vehicles are frequently mechanically complicated and you may not acknowledge if your automobile conforms to the agreement till after you buy the automobile and problems start to come up. Therefore, if After this inspection period you don't reject the automobile, you will be said to have accepted it and will have no claim through the UCC.
The length of the inspection time period is not defined in the regulation. Courts decide how long the sensible inspection period is based on the consumer's expertise and experience, the consumer's difficulty in identifying the deficiency, and the consumer's chance to come across the deficiency.
In spite of this limit, the UCC states that in certain instances where a consumer is pronounced to have accepted products (i.e. the sensible inspection period has elapsed), a consumer may still rescind his acceptance of those goods where the non-conformity largely impares the value of the goods to him. Those examples include cases in which it is burdensome to expose the nonconformity or the consumer was guaranteed that the non-conformity would be repaired. In different words, the court will excuse the consumer from not rejecting the goods where the consumer could not have sensibly done so, or where the manufacturer promised the buyer that the problems would be repaired.
When a automobile excessively fails and you have to keep taking it back to the car dealership for repair under the warranty, the car lemon law might be your next recourse. The deficiency should be substantial where it intereferes with your driving the item or your safety. A item stalling often would be a substantial deficiency. This is exactly the type of defect that may hamper your driving and your safety. Under the automobile lemon law you are not obligated to demonstrate why the auto is stalling, you merely have to verify that it is stalling. Put simply you need to check up on the lemon law in these three examples: the auto keeps dying within the warranty period, the auto is a safety risk, the dealership is incapable to fix the auto when it is warranted.
If you own a motor vehicle which is a lemon you can immediately write to the maker and ask for another equivalent motor vehicle. If this request is not satisfactory to the maker, you could enter into an arbitration arrangement. A few makers have their own arbitration program. Other makers employ external arbitration program such as Autoline by the Better Business Bureau. The judgment of the arbitrators is binding on the maker but not on the purchaser. If unsatisfied with the assessment, the purchaser can take the maker to court.
Virtually all regulations provide that the consumer must be restored back to the financial status they were in before they purchased the vehicle, less the measure that the consumer benefited from by using the vehicle. To get the payback total many elements are considered such as was it a sale or a lease, the purchase price, taxes and license, and mileage etc.
Some virtually new used automobiles may qualify under basic lemon laws. For example, a pre-owned auto might fall under normal lemon laws if it is less than a year old and has fewer than 12,000 miles on the odometer. States that do have a used auto lemon law might be additionally generous with the age and measure of mileage. Still, the auto needs to be sold by a car dealership that provides a written warranty. Private sales are not regulated, neither are automobiles sold under a specific original price paid. There may be other restrictions to a used car lemon law such as the functions for which the vehicle is used or the categorisation of vehicle. Older motor vehicles, are normally excluded from pre-owned car lemon laws. Used car lemon laws ordinarily cover a much shorter time period than brand new car regulations. They usually range from 30 to 90 days, depending on your used vehicle's mileage.
When finding a lawyer for your lemon case, make sure that your lawyer is knowledgeable about the laws that are applicable to your state. Also enquire about the pricing structure. Many lemon law lawyers get a rather small retainer to address a lemon law claim, and subsequently, the attorney's bills are sent to the maker. Therefore, lemon law claims are generally very low-cost to customers. The reimbursement of attorney charges varies from state to state. About one-half of the states provide for you to recover your Lawyer expenses if you win. The lawyer's fee is based upon actual time expended rather than being attached to any other percentage of the recovery. In a few States, you have to pay the manufacturing business* attorney's fees if you lose.
Consumers ought to register their charges in writing and hold a copy. In every written communication, always make clear how taxing it is to return the car to the dealer for corrections and that the dependability that the consumer believed He or she was receiving has been non-existent. Any written communication with a dealer or maker must be sent using certified post. In virtually all instances the makers claim that they have not had the needed number of tries to remedy the problem. They assume on the knowledge that the consumer doesn't retain repair sheets for each time they have brought the car into the repair facility. They also count on the fact that the repair sheets have seperate items repaired every instance evidencing that they have not repaired the same defect. Consumers ought to reply by expecting that dealerships always hand them a warranty repair order. Consumers should also indicate that these unrecorded visits are tries.
Make sure to be aware of your lemon law rights. Upon purchase, immediately review your owner's folder and warranty information thoroughly, as well as the information pertaining lemon law rights which you should obtain when you purchase your automobile. Don't depend on your dealer to tell you what troubles are covered by warranty. If your dealer states that a defect is not covered and you think that he or she is misleading you, be civilized but self-asserting. Don't be scared to go over the section of the warranty that applies, or to call the manufacturing business for substantiation utilizing the contact info included inside your owner's folder. You shouldn't be obliged pay for repairs linked to lemon law complaints. It's also essential to notify the manufacturing business of a complaint straightaway. If you think that your vehicle has a defect which just can not be repaired, look into your lemon law rights to see when you are able to file a lemon law complaint.
Lemon Law Tips:
1. Take your car in early - as soon as something appears wrong.
2. Hold onto repair orders - Always obtain a work order when you take the vehicle for repairs, and always obtain a completed repair order when work is completed. Be sure the work order reflects your own thoughts and comments regarding your complaints. If the technician summarizes or changes your complaint too much, have that technician add your corrected comments. Sign and receive a copy of the repair Order before leaving.
3. Be consistent in your complaints. Lemon Laws generally require that a manufacturer's authorized repair facility be provided with a reasonable number of opportunities to repair the same problem(s). Therefore, be as consistent as possible on each repeated repair attempt in describing the problem(s) you are having. This will establish that the problem is the same recurring problem, and will make any potential lemon law claim easier to establish and prove.
4. Look for TSBs: Technical Service Bulletins are issued by manufacturers regarding common defects or repairs in certain automobile models. Your dealer will not seek to tell you about TSBs unless you ask. Ask the dealer to make note of your TSB request on the repair order, even if your dealer tells you that none exist for your problem.
5. Watch for bad advice - Dealers and manufacturers personnel, without intending to, frequently practice law by giving you their version of lemon laws. Typically it is wrong and may be detrimental to your case. It doesn't matter whether the reason for this misinformation is unintentional or not. The effect is similar. So check any advice given by the dealer or manufacturer before making any decision that may harm your case.
6. Beware of arbitration - Manufacturers frequently recommend arbitration or even imply that it is a mandatory prerequisite to resolving your problem. Arbitration is neither desirable nor mandatory! And it is absolutely not a prerequisite for making a lemon law demand!
Leading Misconceptions regarding the Lemon Laws
If my case does not qualify for the lemon law there is nothing I can do.
Attorneys regularly take cases that do not meet the lemon law criteria. All purchasers of defective products have a legal right to compensation. They frequently take cases which do meet the mileage or repair criteria of the lemon law, bring them in court, and secure compensation or other relief for the buyer.
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